Dutch Apple Pie

In the beginning of October (can you believe how long ago that was?!) Nick, his sister and I headed to Smolak Farms to do some apple picking. While it was super crowded overall, we headed to the back of the orchard and hit the jackpot of cortland and macintosh apples. And, since I am a sucker for any type of souvenir, big or small, I upgraded from the apple bag to the big basket (not the easiest to carry through the orchard, but totally worth it). With a massive basket full of apples, pie was definitely in our future, along with a bunch of other delicious apple-based recipes.

Basket FULL of Apples

Dutch Apple Pie - it is basically as if apple crisp and an apple pie had a baby! This pie really allows for the apples to be the star and not to get lost between the pie crusts. We are a big apple crisp family, so needless to say this is the preferred pie for Nick and I.

Apple Pie!

Apple Pie (adapted from Beantown Baker via Nutmeg Nanny)

• Filling
• 6 Cups of apples - Macs or Cortlands (6-8 Apples)
• ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
• ¼ Teaspoon All Spice
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 2 Tablespoons of Maple Syrup

Really, this filling is pretty simple. After roughly peeling the apples (I like a bit of skin) and slicing them to about a quarter-inch thickness I added them to a bowl that contained the rest of the filling ingredients (except for the maple syrup) and gave it a nice stir until all the slices were nicely coated. I then poured the majority of apples into the prepared pie crust and carefully placed the remaining slices until it was piled high. Finally, I drizzled the sweet maple syrup over the top the filling.

Sliced and ready...

Fully coated

Ready for some topping

Streusel Topping

• Topping
• 1 ¼ Cup Flour
• ¾ Cup Brown Sugar
• 1 ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
• ¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg
• Salt
• ½ Cup Butter, Melted

The topping is equally as simple; I mixed the dry ingredients together and then poured in the melted butter, stirring it up until the topping formed clumps the size of peas. Because I piled the apple filling so high I had to delicately place the streusel on tp, trying to make sure it was all covered.

Streusel Dry Ingredients

Streusel coving the filling and ready for the oven

I covered the pie loosely with foil and placed it in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes and then removed the foil and reduced the temperature to 375 degrees for another 35 minutes. At that point, I pulled the pie out of the oven (the house smelled amazing!) and let it cool fully before serving.

Apple Pie!

This pie turned out pretty freaking well if I do say so myself. I don't think I'm overselling it because Nick has not stopped talking about it, and he specifically requested it for Thanksgiving. If you are looking for an easy pie that is sure to impress your guests (or hosts) I would add this to your menu!